With the sheer number of pokie machines available to play online you can often be left wondering how to play some of them, whilst some simply require you to click on the start button, others may have lots of different options available before you even start the reels spinning!

To help you get a better understanding of how to play pokie machines we have a step by step guide below, which we hope, will explain the many different playing options that you will come across when playing pokies online.

Pay Lines and Coin Settings

All pokie machines have pay lines, some, such as the Classic 3 reel slots offer just one, whilst Video Slots in particular can offer you as few as five pay lines up to many thousands of them. So before you start to play you need to select a pokie that offers you your preferred number of pay lines, you will also in most cases be able to adjust the coin settings at which each slot will play out on.

When choosing a coin setting try and make sure you pick a low one if you are playing on a small or limited budget, as setting them to high will result in your running out of money very quickly, more so if the winning combinations aren’t spinning in!

Be aware that on most video pokies in particular you can also choose to play more than one coin per line, so again take that into account when choosing exactly how much you want to play each spin for.

Some of the newer pokie machines are known as Allway slots and these offer you the ability to play every possible pay line in view on the screen, this can be either 243 ways, 1024 ways, or a massive 3125 ways, however when playing these kinds of slots, one set fee will be charged for each spin, which can be increased in increments of this cost per spin, instead of you having to individually wager on each pay line.

Low and High Variance

Another very important aspect of choosing how to play pokies and picking which ones to play is by understanding their game play structures, some slots are designed to give you lots of play time, they do this by having a paytable and reel symbols which favour the small value wins, and as such you will get plenty of these low value wins spinning in, these kinds of slots are known as low variance ones.

Conversely some slots are known as high variance, and these work in the opposite way than low variance slots, and as such you will find they can and do offer some huge potential payouts however this comes at a cost as there will be fewer low value wins on the paytable and less of them spinning in.

So you really should decide whether you are looking for an entertaining slot playing session or one that can either bust your bankroll out quickly or instantly, in one spin, award you a very large payout indeed.

Bonus Games and Features

For all you pokie players who simply want to spin the slot reels with no distractions then it will be the 3 reel slot machines you should look to play, these simply require you to choose your preferred stake level and maybe the number of lines then click the start button and hope for the best.

However if you want some excitement from your pokie play then the bonus video slots will be the ones you need to hunt down. Whilst the bonus games usually play themselves such as the free spins rounds, some may require a little interaction by yourself, and these are the picking feature rounds where you are tasked with picking items off the screen and trying to select those items with the best cash awards hiding behind them

Some pokies namely the UK Fruit Machines which can now be found online in large numbers often have skill based bonus feature rounds, and your level of success and the winning potential of these bonus games is down to how you play them, so getting in lots of free play practice is strongly advisable!

Play For Free

By sticking only to pokie machines you usually play, you will at least have an understanding for how they work and operate, however never be afraid of trying out some of the newer pokies or some you may never have played before, you can play for free in most online casinos and this will allow you to get to grips with how to play pokie machines you have never tried before.